This application relates to a clampless cuff which serves to connect an air resonator to a throttle body for a vehicle engine air supply system. In particular, the cuff is provided with an o-ring seal which contacts portions of both the throttle body and the air resonator.
Vehicle engines are provided with an air supply system that includes several components. To achieve maximum efficient and reliable operation of the engine, it is quite important that the air be as clean as possible. Thus, an air cleaner cleans air being delivered to the engine. From the air cleaner the air travels to an air resonator, which is essentially a large chamber (or chambers) which helps to control noise from the air supply. From the resonator the air typically passes through a throttle valve body. The throttle valve body includes a valve selectively opened and closed by a control to achieve a desired air flow volume to the engine. From the throttle body the air passes through an air manifold and eventually into the engine cylinders.
The throttle body is connected to the air resonator, and must have a connection that is essentially dust free. It would be detrimental to the supply of clean air to the engine to allow dust or other contaminants to be able to leak through the connection between the throttle body and the air resonator.
Typically, a tight clamp is utilized to clamp a cylindrical boss from the throttle to a cylindrical boss from the resonator. However, the use of the clamp requires access to the clamp during the vehicle assembly process, or during repair or replacement.
One desire of modern vehicle designers is to remove as many restrictions as possible for the placement and assembly of the various components in the vehicle. Thus, it would be desirable to allow the air resonator to be placed at a location such that it would not be easily accessible to a workman for tightening a clamp. As an example, to allow the tightening of a clamp, there must be sufficient space around the connection to provide access to the clamp. It would be desirable to eliminate the requirement of this space.
While connections other than clamps such as resilient cuffs, etc., may have been proposed in the past, they have not adequately provided a sufficiently tight dust seal.
In the disclosed embodiment of this invention, a resilient cuff is fixed between a boss on an air resonator and a boss on a throttle body. The cuff preferably has an o-ring bead with thinner portions on each side of the o-ring bead. The o-ring has an outer diameter selected to be greater than the inner diameter of one of the throttle body boss or air resonator boss. The other of the throttle body boss and air resonator bosses is smaller and will fit within the o-ring. The outer periphery of this other component is sized to be greater than the inner periphery of the o-ring seal. In this way, the o-ring is compressed to provide a seal on both bosses.
The present invention allows the throttle body to be simply snapped onto the resonator, with no need for access to the surrounding area. This thus provides greater flexibility to the vehicle designer in the positioning of the resonator.
Preferably, an axial seal is also provided on the outer of the throttle body and air resonator. In particular, a forward end of this outer component is snapped into a groove on the cuff. In this snapped position, the forwardmost end of the component abuts an inner surface of the cuff to provide an axial seal.
In one preferred embodiment, a forward seal is also provided against the inner member. This forward seal is most preferably provided with a spring such that the forward seal is biased radially inwardly against the inner member.
Other details of the specific construction of the cuff provide additional features. In the disclosed embodiment it is the air resonator which is positioned outwardly of the throttle body. Of course, in some assemblies the throttle body boss could be positioned outwardly of the air resonator boss.
In the preferred embodiment, the cuff is initially placed upon the air resonator boss, and the air resonator may then be mounted into the engine compartment. The cuff then receives a boss from the throttle body in a snap connection. The throttle body boss need merely be inserted into the inner leg of the cuff. Thus, no space around the outer periphery of the air resonator boss is necessary for tightening a clamp, etc. In this way, space restrictions on where the air resonator can be located are eliminated.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.